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Joe Burrow and another Bengals player land on new list of top 100 NFL players

Joe Burrow is already considered one of the top-100 NFL players after his rookie year.

Former LSU quarterback Joe Burrow has received plenty of recognition throughout both his college and NFL career, and the expectations continue to be high for him ahead of the 2021 NFL season.

Pete Prisco of CBS Sports included Burrow, along with safety Jessie Bates, in his annual top-100 list for NFL players.

Burrow played a season with Rookie of the Year potential in 2020 before his year was cut short by a severe left knee injury that ultimately required reconstructive surgery, followed by an extensive time period of rehabilitation and recovery.

Prisco seems to take that into account here, putting Burrow at No. 95 overall on his list.

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“If he had played his entire rookie season, he would be higher on this list,” Prisco wrote. “My prediction is he will be much higher on this list next year.”

Prisco also had high praise for Burrow’s teammates, Bates, who has been overlooked by several analysts. He ranked him at No. 58 overall.

“He is one of the more underrated players in the league,” Prisco wrote. “Bates plays in anonymity in Cincinnati, but please take note. He’s a heck of a player.”

It will be interesting to see how both players perform this season, though it seems impossible for Burrow to not find himself higher on this list next offseason.

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Robotic quarterback used by LSU could take over the college football world

The Seeker is changing college football at LSU.

The 2019 LSU football team undeniably featured one of the best receiver groups in college football, and a large part of that success stemmed from the use of a robotic quarterback.

A 6-foot, 350-pound passing machine called The Seeker is “far more sophisticated” than a normal passing machine. Passes are fired at 100 mph, and receiving routes can be programmed into a touchscreen interface.

The Seeker can throw six balls in 10 seconds, and it can make five or six more passes than a regular passing machine. It’s safe to say the advanced level the trio of LSU’s 2019 receivers played at during the season has a lot to do with this advanced device.

“They loved it,” LSU Director of Athletic Training Jack Marucci told SDS. “It was a unique device and nobody had it at the time … they all experienced it, they all used it, they did all the testing with the device to look at how they catch the ball. I’d say positively they enjoyed it. It made it more fun to do the work.”

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Another advantage the Tigers saw from this machine was allowing quarterbacks Joe Burrow and Myles Brennan to have some rest in between reps while allowing receivers to continue training at a high level.

“These wide receivers, they don’t need a quarterback. Now they can run routes where you put in the play scripts and let them actually have a practice without a quarterback,” Marucci said. “They just wanna catch footballs.”

Head coach Ed Orgeron was blown away during a demonstration of The Seeker after witnessing it run punt cover drills. The average amount of punts a normal passing machine can get in the allotted time is 10 to 12. The seeker got 52 reps.

“The creativity that some of these coaches have with devising their own routes, we’re just a piece of that puzzle,” Karlicic said. “We were very lucky to have found that relationship (with LSU), but for us, it was about getting that feedback, getting that development and for them to be the best team they could possibly be. You saw the result of that play out.”

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During the 2019 season, The Seeker became such a prominent part of LSU’s offense it traveled in the equipment truck on away games.

The Seeker also has been used by Iowa, Oklahoma, SMU, Virginia and Northwestern, and at the NFL level by tight ends George Kittle, T.J. Hockenson and Hunter Henry. As the word gets out, The Seeker’s impact will likely be seen far and wide in the football world.

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NFL analyst says Jamal Adams is deserving of a big contract

The Seahawks should do everything they can to lock down Jamal Adams, according to this analyst.

NFL analyst Gil Brandt recently compiled a list of 12 young players who should be “locked down” in a big contract, and one of those players is a former LSU star.

Defensive back Jamal Adams has an expiring contract after 2021, and Brandt believes his current place on the Seattle Seahawks should soon be definite.

Adams is a three-time Pro-Bowler and was selected as the No. 6 overall pick in 2017 by the New York Jets. He then joined the Seattle Seahawks last season after being traded for safety Bradley McDougald, a first and third-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, and a first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Brandt believes Adams is now deserving of a long-term deal, and he should be pursuing the higher number.

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“[Adams] easily has more sacks (21.5) since he joined the NFL in 2017 than any other safety in that span, and last season, he recorded more sacks by a defensive back (9.5) than anyone else at the position since the NFL first began officially tracking that stat in 1982,” noted Brandt.

Brandt says the question now is how much Adams should be paid. The Seahawks have a $12 million gap, and the decision to be made is whether or not he should be paid as a defensive back or a top safety.

“The dilemma facing Seattle is whether to pay Adams as a top defensive player overall or as a top safety, with the gap being almost $12 million per year,” wrote Brandt.

Adams isn’t attending minicamp until the Seahawks can come to a decision.

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